Foolish Beauty Is Bound to the Sage Emperor Nurturing System Chapter 63

Chapter 63: The Guards are Withdrawn from Zi Chen Palace

The Regent King cast his gaze around the sleeping quarters, seeing the trees arranged neatly, planted with evergreen shrubs. These were natural shelters.

In winter, sparrows would hop around on the withered branches.

The birds hid among the branches. With the Regent King’s eyesight weakened by the poison, he couldn’t see them completely. It would be even harder in the spring and summer when the leaves were thick.

Therefore, the Regent King didn’t respond to An Ruyi’s suggestion.

But how could An Ruyi be an ordinary person?

He understood his master’s worries from a single glance.

Eunuch An used the birds as an example:

“His Majesty likes these birds very much. He often stands under the trees and breaks off bits of snacks to feed them. Among them, the one His Majesty likes the most is a plump sparrow that looks like a ball.”

“His Majesty is acquainted with it. When he stands under the tree, if there is food in his palm, the little sparrow will actively fly down and hop around on His Majesty’s palm.”

“His Majesty will touch it and whisper things that this servant doesn’t understand to it, but His Majesty has never thought of raising them. He always instructs this servant and others not to drive them away, letting them come and go as they please.”

“…”

An Ruyi continued speaking.

Before the Regent King’s eyes, a thin figure of Wei Wanlan appeared, wearing golden clothes, tilting his head and interacting with a sparrow.

Xiao Wan always gets along easily with small animals. Like the tapir in the Hundred Beasts Garden, before it was sent back to the Shu Mountain forest, it was just dull and hadn’t greeted anyone.

An Ruyi said:

“In Zi Chen Palace, even the birds are not restrained; they actively circle around His Majesty. His Majesty is not a bird.”

Eunuch An smiled, feeling that he had made his point clear:

The Regent King has sincere feelings, but because of his personality, his protectiveness and possessiveness are excessive, which may make the naive young emperor feel suffocated.

There’s a distance between them, but it’s not something that can be bridged through effort, it might backfire, and more space is needed to mend things.

The Regent King remained silent for a few breaths. When he looked up at the birds on the branches, his profile was handsome and upright. He suddenly waved his hand, moving his gaze away from the birds.

Before dealing with state affairs, he dropped a sentence:

“Order the extra Imperial Guards to withdraw from Zi Chen Palace and be assigned to patrol other areas.”

An Ruyi quickly agreed.

Then Su Jingzhi said, “The silk trade route has resumed, the Western Region countries are grateful and have come to pay their respects. Tell His Majesty that this King will attend the state banquet. He doesn’t need to wait for lunch, he should take care of it himself.”

“Yes!”

Eunuch An excitedly ran to pass the orders to the Imperial Guards.

…

Imperial Physician Fang was ordered to help him sleep and grumbled as he left. About two hours later, Wei Wanlan slowly woke up. His head felt a little swollen, his thoughts were unclear, his eyes were swollen, and his vision was blurry.

“Your Majesty.”

“Mm.”

“Please close your eyes.”

He was served by the maids after waking up, having his face wiped. The maids carefully rubbed his dragon claws with wet cloths and then combed his hair with a jade comb, carefully grooming his dragon head.

The maids in Zi Chen Palace were actually indulged by Wei Wanlan, and didn’t have many verbal rules.

A young maid asked while tidying Wei Wanlan’s hair:

“Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell? Why is your mouth swollen?”

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Wei Wanlan coughed several times in response to the question, snapping a few hairs, making him wince in pain: “Hiss…”

“This servant deserves to die!”

The young maid quickly apologized and was dismissed after being glared at by Eunuch An.

Wei Wanlan whispered “Don’t blame her,” and unconsciously touched his lips, feeling a tingling pain.

Accompanied by this slight pain, Wei Wanlan’s face was flushed, his thoughts overflowing with memories. He still remembered the Regent King pressing him to the bed, then his body and lips pressing down.

He had been kissed by the big baddie until he lost his breath.

The Regent King had also bullied him like this at Tianlu Pavilion last time. The only difference was that he wasn’t bitten on the mouth this time, but clearly he was kissed even more intensely this time. His head went blank, and he fainted.

Wei Wanlan couldn’t help but wonder about the source of the big villain’s behavior.

He remembered a sentence from 404:

【He desires you.】

He was a little scared.

And a little strange.

Even without much experience, he knew that this “desire” meant that the Regent King wanted to have a physical relationship with him.

Wei Wanlan became even more at a loss.

They ate and slept together every day, and he had no power to resist the Regent King.

Could it be that being transmigrated not only required feigned compliance, but also serving the emperor with beauty?

Wahh, no QAQ…I’m the emperor.

Wei Wanlan’s little face turned white then blue, his red lips trembling. His deer-like eyes flickered, clearly thinking about some unsolvable and difficult-to-speak problem.

Fortunately, at this time, An Ruyi, with a serious expression, conveyed a message:

“The Regent King said that thanks to Your Majesty’s care, his headache was slightly relieved last night, but after you stopped, he suffered from it again at night, so he did something unusual to Your Majesty. The Regent King said that if he offended Your Majesty, please don’t take it to heart.”

This excuse was completely fabricated, even An Ruyi felt guilty saying it.

But Wei Wanlan was easily fooled.

He twitched his ears, blinked his eyes, and thought:

—So, that means the big villain suffers from headaches, causing him to go crazy from time to time, smashing things and biting people?

Then all the Regent King’s abnormal actions seemed explainable.

He was going crazy, he didn’t want to violate me, he would go crazy inexplicably, no wonder he named his flowerpot “The Whole Family is Crazy”.

Working under a madman, I’m so miserable嘤嘤嘤… I still need to find a way to get rid of this anxious life.

Wei Wanlan, declaring that a good emperor doesn’t bother with a madman, nodded:

“I understand.”

“That’s good.” Seeing the emperor’s guard relax slightly, An Ruyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he said to the emperor, “The Regent King is going to a state banquet for lunch today. You eat by yourself. If you want any dishes, this servant will have the imperial kitchen prepare them for you.”

Eh?

The big baddie isn’t coming for lunch today.

Wei Wanlan didn’t know how to feel. But after what happened yesterday, even if he was crazy, the madman might forget about it later, but Wei Wanlan, the one who was kissed by the madman, would still feel awkward. After all, he’s not a madman.

Not eating together is less awkward.

Wei Wanlan quickly adjusted his mood, clapping his cheeks expectantly:

“I want to eat steamed perch today.”

The silver cover was lifted.

The hot steam of the perch rose up.

The fresh scent of the fish and Sichuan pepper quickly captured Wei Wanlan’s taste buds. He carefully tasted the deboned fish meat, and seeing the opportunity, asked about Xiao Ji’s safety, the one he almost got his…well, you know…harmed.

Wei Wanlan asked, “Nothing bloody happened last night, right?”

“No.” An Ruyi replied, “Everything is fine.”

“That’s good.” Wei Wanlan breathed a sigh of relief, his appetite increasing, “I also want to eat custard buns.”

A white, plump bun appeared. Wei Wanlan picked it up and took a bite, his cheeks bulging as he ate.

Wei Wanlan asked, “What are the arrangements after the nap?”

An Ruyi replied, “There are no arrangements. The Regent King chose a book to recommend to you. You can choose to read in the sleeping quarters or go out for a walk. As long as you’re in the palace, you don’t need to report wherever you go.”

!!!

The temptation to go out for a walk was too great.

To the point that Wei Wanlan was so excited that he temporarily forgot about being forcibly kissed by the Regent King last night. He quickly swallowed the custard bun and then ran to the dragon bed, briefly touching his back to the bed surface.

Then he quickly got up: “I’m awake!”

An Ruyi shook his head slightly, thinking Wei Wanlan was childish.

But since “giving His Majesty more freedom” was tacitly approved by the Regent King, how could An Ruyi have any objection?

He could only prepare a robe and hand warmer, and instructed His Majesty, “Be careful wherever you go. Someone always hopes you’ll return safely.”

“Mmm!” Eunuch An is the best.

Once I complete the second task and renew my life, I’ll give Eunuch An extra chicken legs!

Holding a small hand warmer, he ran out of Zi Chen Palace.

Wei Wanlan looked back three times and found that the Imperial Guards, who had been following him like a group of tails, hadn’t followed him.

Wei Wanlan stopped, tilting his head, what’s wrong with you guys? Are the Imperial Guards malfunctioning?

He was afraid of causing trouble for these Imperial Guards, and even at the entrance of Zi Chen Palace, he deliberately slowed his pace, waiting for them to catch up.

But the Imperial Guards remained motionless, still holding their swords at the entrance of the palace. When Wei Wanlan looked at them, they bowed respectfully:

“Please give your instructions, Your Majesty.”

Wei Wanlan: “No…nothing to instruct. Keep standing guard.”

Imperial Guards: “This subordinate obeys!”

Nice, for some reason, the Imperial Guards aren’t following him, he can go out now, he’s free.

The free Wei Wanlan breathed freely, feeling a coolness in his lungs, refreshing. His little nose twitched.

Now, there was one thing he couldn’t let go of, that was his good friend, this good friend was important, he would help him complete the main task.

He dared not go to Zhongshu Province to stop Xiao Ji, the big villain was working there, going there would be like walking into a trap.

So he could only focus on the long palace road between Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province, because Xiao Ji had a task, to retrieve the documents after review by Menxia Province and bring them back to decide whether or not to immediately entrust them to the Six Ministries for execution.

Menxia Province is not big.

Or rather, Menxia Province is small.

As an institution with limited power within the court, only experienced officials were arranged here, all of whom were civil officials. Those entering and leaving were all Confucian scholars, exuding a refined and cultured atmosphere everywhere.

Honestly, under the Regent King’s rule, Su Jingzhi had the final say on major matters; civil officials couldn’t cause much trouble.

So Wei Wanlan felt that civil officials were quite friendly and harmless.

He could even understand why some dynasties in feudal times placed greater emphasis on civil officials than military officials. After all, civil officials were willing to reason with you, civil officials spoke gently and implicitly, and even if civil officials took action, they weren’t threatening.

Military officials are different.

For example, the Regent King…

Wei Wanlan’s heart skipped a beat, his face immediately turning red, seemingly remembering the Regent King’s strong woody scent when he went crazy, hot and irresistible.

Just the memory made Wei Wanlan’s eyes swell.

Squatting behind a bush. Taking a deep breath, Wei Wanlan waited to regain his composure.

His dragon claws patted his chest, and after a while, he finally calmed his breathing. It was clear how difficult it was not to argue with a madman.

Why hasn’t Xiao Ji appeared yet? Was he really…harmed?

I should have made a secret signal with Xiao Ji and set a meeting place.

Wei Wanlan idly talked to himself.

But at that moment, a figure slowly appeared at the end of this palace road, Xiao Ji, slender like bamboo, wearing a scarlet official robe, his face full of scholarly elegance. Minister Xiao walked elegantly, his steps slow, his arms swinging gently. If one didn’t see him, one couldn’t even hear his footsteps.

Compared to the Regent King, he was like a walking beast versus a flying bird.

Uh, Wei Wanlan secretly crossed out this comparison of the two as animals. He coughed lightly and was about to poke his head out to meet Xiao Ji, stopping him.

But Xiao Ji stopped first.

Wei Wanlan was stunned in the bushes, thinking that he hadn’t hidden well enough and had been discovered by Minister Xiao.

Unexpectedly, Minister Xiao, who had stopped, suddenly felt inspired to compose a poem, reciting it to the bushes:

“Returning birds linger, unable to fly high. Dense bushes, providing shelter and rest.”

It was a good poem, but he didn’t understand it.

Wei Wanlan poked his little head out of the bushes, with a few young spring leaves on his head:

“Minister Xiao, hello! Let’s talk more about the task…no, about pacifying the internal strife in Great Wei!”